Third Thursday Thoughts, 1st Edition

With the new administration and the continuing effects of COVID 19, where do you see the job market and hiring trends across industries in 2021?
I see the hospitality, entertainment and commercial real estate sectors at lower levels of demand until the vaccine is distributed and received worldwide. While other industries, such as: information technology, manufacturing, and professional services will continue to see growth in 2021. We at Marcum Search are prepared to pivot and align with the ever changing climate across all industries to best serve our clients.

What infrastructure did Marcum Search put in place to service clients when the initial shutdown occurred? How do you plan to continue to adapt with the uncertainties of the market to assist clients without disruption?
As the talent advisory arm of Marcum LLP, the 15th largest accounting firm in the country, we leveraged Marcum’s exceptional Information Technology in many ways:

• In the flip of a switch, we had everyone working from home on remote access Virtual Private Network (VPN)
• We bought every associate new monitors and other devices to be successful in the work from home environment
• We used the most up to date software for in house and client meetings and tele-conferencing
• We streamlined our onboarding process to be digital
• We streamlined tele-conferencing for our clients so they could conduct interviews virtually providing any additional needs to support them and will continued to do so

We will continue to adapt to circumstances and strive to assist our clients in every capacity available to us with our wide reach of resources available to us through Marcum LLP.

As remote work becomes more of the norm, do you see clients having less of an emphasis on geographical locations when hiring for candidate positions going forward?
I would say, maybe. What we see today is that most people are working from home and we aren’t seeing an emphasis on geographical location, but in a year from now things could change quickly. If there is anything we learned in 2020, everything can change on a dime. We don’t make long term decisions based on short term problems.

As a business leader, what did you learn most this past year?
I learned a company has to be fluid and that there can be no rigidity whatsoever. To remain successful we must adapt to the current environment and evolve with it.  Surround yourself with employees who are loyal and driven and ensure that you have all the necessary resources available.

What is your most valuable product or service available to your clients and customers at the moment?
We serve as a talent acquisition partner to our clients, assisting them with position identification to onboarding new employees and everything in between.  We differentiate our services by offering our clients the extra added layer option to use Birkman® in their talent selection process.  The Birkman Method® is a behavioral assessment that helps identify individual strengths and leverages different personality traits to ensure optimum performance for our clients businesses.